Currycomb.



0. P. THOMPSON.

. OUR RYGOMB APPLIOLTIOH FILED JAIL 22, 1907.

.2 SHEETS-831E111 1.

THE NORRIS PETERS cm, WASHINGTON, n c.

= PATBNTED APR.7,'1908.,

PATENTED APR. "7, 1908.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

G. F. THOMPSON.

GURRYGOMB APPLIOATION IfILED IAN.'22,1907.

"casts PETERS cm, wAsl-lmanm, n. c.

CHARLES F. THOMPSON, OF SAFFORD, ARIZONA TERRITORY.

OURRYCOMB Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 7, 1908.

Application filed January 22, 1907. Serial No. 353,493.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES F. TnoMP- SON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Safford, in the county of Graham and Territory of Arizona, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Currycombs, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

My invention relates to improvements in self-cleaning curry combs and consists in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

The object of the invention is to improve and simplify the construction and operation of combs of this character and thereby render the same more convenient and eflective, and less expensive.

The above and other.objects which will appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, are accomplished by the improved construction illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved self-cleaning curry comb; Fi 2 is a top plan view of the same; Fig. 3 is a detail transverse section taken on the plane indicated by the line 33 in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a slightly dilferent form of the invention. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of another embodiment of the invention; Fig. 6 is a plan view of the same; Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the bearing bracket shown in Figs. 5 and 6; and Fig. 8 is a detail view showing the engagement of the thumb lever with the hammer.

Referring to the drawings by numerals, 1 denotes a curry comb which may be of any desired form and construction but which, as illustrated, comprises a rectangular back 2 having riveted or otherwise secured upon its top a rearwardly projecting, centraly disposed shank 3 carrying a handle 4, and having riveted or otherwise secured upon its bottom a plurality of transversely disposed, substantially U-shaped channel bars 5 which have their edges notched to form the usual comb teeth 6. Riveted or otherwise secured, as at 7, upon the top of the back 2 is a substantially U-shaped bracket 8 containing a transverse pivot or fulcrum 9 for a lever 10. The pivot 9 passes through an opening in the lever 10 at a point intermediate its ends which latter project forwardly and rearwardly to provide a hammer head 11 and an operating finger piece 12. The hammer head 11 is in the form of a semi-spherical enlargement upon the forwardly extending end of the lever 10 and it is adapted to contact or strike the top of the back 2 for the purpose of loosening the dirt from the combbars 5. The rearwardly projecting end of the lever 10 is preferably offset laterally, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, in order that the finger piece 12 is disposed to one side of the handle shank 3, so that it may be readily engaged and operated by the thumb of the o erators hand which grasps the handle 4. hile the finger iece 12 is arranged u on the left hand side 0 the shank 3, as ustrated in the drawings, it will be understood that it may be upon either side. It will also be noted upon reference to Fig. 1 that the lever 10 is angular so that when the other end is parallel with the back 2, the finger piece 12 projects upwardly and rearwardly. The lever is held in its normal position and the hammer 11 is forced downwardly upon the top of the back 2 by means of aspring 13. The latter is referably formed from a single piece of res1 ient wire bent upon itself at its center and then curved to provide a seat 14 which engages the bottom edge of the rear end of the lever. The two ends of this spring wire are then coiled around the pivot 9, as shown at 15, upon opposite sides of the lever 10, and their extremities 16 project rearwardly and engage the back 2, as clearly shown in the drawings. The construction, operation and advantages of this embodiment of the invention will be readily understood from the foregoing description taken in connection with the drawings. It will be seen that when it is desired to clean the comb the finger piece 12 is pressed downwardly to elevate the hammer 11 and then released, so that the spring 13 forces said hammer downwardly and causes it to strike the back 2 of the comb and thereby loosen the dirt in the tooth bars 5. This operation is repeated as many times as necessary to properly clean the comb. The spring 13 is of sufficient strength to hold the hammer 11 normally in contact with the back 2 so that during the operation of currying the animal, the hammer will not be operated, so that there will be no danger of frightening a nervous or spirited animal. Owing to the convenient location of the finger piece 12 it will be seen that the hammer may be c erated by the thumb of the 7 hand which ho ds the comb.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Fig. 1, the lever 1O has a hammer head 11 in the form of an integral cross bar, upon itsfront end and its rear end is pivoted, as at 9*, in a recess 17 formed in an integral enlargement 18 upon the handle shank 3*. This enlargement 18 is formed at the center of the front end of the shank 3 and at its front and upon each of its sides are apertured ears 3 which are riveted or otherwise secured upon the back 2 of this comb. If desired, a leaf spring 13 may be secured at one of its ends by a screw or the like upon the shank 3" and have its free end bearing upon the upper edge of the lever 10*, as shown. This spring 13 is strong enough to hold the hammer 11 a in contact with the back of the comb during the currying operation, but when the comb is rapidly shaken, said spring yields and permits the hammer to oscillate upon its pivot 9 so that it is struck against the back 2 of the comb for the purpose of cleaning the latter, as will be readily understood.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. 5 to 9 inclusive, of the drawing, the hammer lever 20 is independent of the operating thumb lever 21 and the connection between them is such that when the thumb lever is depressed the hammer will be raised a predetermined distance from the back of the comb and then released so that it will be forced downwardly by a spring. As shown, the levers 20, 21 are loosely pivoted intermediate their ends upon a transverse pivot in 22 arranged in the sides of a bearing brac et 23 secured upon the top of the comb back. Said levers not only swing upon the pivot 22 but also have a sliding lateral movement thereon, and they are held normally in contact with each other and centrally in the bracket 23 by coil springs 24 arranged upon said pivot on op osite sides of the levers. The lever 20 has t e hammer head in its forward end and its rear end 25 is curved outwardly or laterally, as clearly shown in Fig. 6. The thumb lever 21 has its forward end formed with a laterally projecting lip 26 adapted to engage the bottom of the hammer lever 20, as clearly shown in Fig. 8. The opposite or rear end of the lever 21 has a portion 27 curved outwardly or laterally and at its extremity is a finger or thumb piece 28. The oppositely curved or diverging portions 25, 27 of the levers 20, 21 are so arranged that when they are moved downwardly they will engage oppositely inclined or cam faces 29 formed in the bracket 23 at its rear end. The hammer head on the lever 20 is forced downwardly against the back of the comb by a leaf spring 30 secured in the bracket 23 and having its free end pressing against the bottom understood. It will be seen that when the thumb piece 28 is depressed the forward end of the lever 21 will be elevated and owing to the engagement of its Ii 26 with the lever 20 the hammer head will a so be elevated. This downward movement of the rear ends of the two levers causes their diverging portions 25, 27 to ride downwardly upon the converging inclined or cam faces 29 of the bracket 23, so that the levers 20, 21 will be moved apart or given suflicient lateral movement in 0 pcsite directions to cause the lip 26 to re ease the lever 20, whereupon the spring 30 will cause the hammer head to strike the comb. When the thumb iece 28 is released the spring 31 restores it to its normal position and the lip 26 will, owing to its beveled lower face, pass downwardly across the lever 20 aid drop into engagement with its bottom e ge.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. A self-cleanin curry comb comprising a comb back, a handle, and a lever pivoted intermediate its ends and having at one end a hammer head to strike said comb back and at its other end a finger piece arranged adjacent to said handle.

2. A self-cleaning curry comb comprising a comb back, a handle, a lever pivoted intermediate its ends and having at one end a hammer head to strike said comb back and at its other end a finger piece arranged adj acent to said handle, and a spring for actuating said lever in one direction and holding its hammer head normally in contact with the comb back.

3. A self-cleanin curry comb comprising a comb back, a hand e projecting therefrom, a transverse pivot carried by said comb back, a lever mounted intermediate its ends upon said ivot and having at its other end a hammer ead to strike said'comb back and atits rear end a finger piece arranged adjacent to one side of said handle, and a coil spring surrounding said pivot and having one of its ends engaged with said lever, substantially as shown and for the pur ose set forth.

In testimony whereof hereunto affiX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES F. THOMPSON.

Witnesses:

J. G. BELT, J. N. ROBINSON. 

